AN OVERWHELMING number of Evesham shoppers delivered a resounding thumbs up to local NHS care during an event in the heart of the town by the Labour party.
Most spoke highly of the doctors, nurses and care staff they had encountered locally with one telling Labour chiefs how his life was saved.
Others spoke of the importance of having hospital services and therapists in the town but many expressed fears staff were struggling to cope with the funding and organisation of services under the current government.
Members were on the streets to seek the views of shoppers in a bid to inform national and local policy. Similar street stalls in the coming months will test local views on issues such as education.
Among the areas for improvement suggested by town residents were shorter waiting times for GP appointments and both A&E and non-emergency surgery, more timely access for young people to mental health support, longer time slots with doctors and nurses and more extensive social care support for the elderly in their own homes.
Evesham Labour Party chair David Haslam said: “We hear a lot about the funding pressures in health and care but these interviews made clear the real hardship suffered by many as a result of so-called austerity.
“A genuinely national, publicly funded, health and care service which treats all citizens irrespective of their ability to pay, is clearly not safe in the current government’s hands. But Labour is developing policies to ensure that these highly valued services are assured for the future.”
